Scrappy Trips Lay Out

This project kind of got neglected in recent weeks. I was working on it full steam ahead and once the blocks were finished and stacked the stack got moved from place to place in the studio. I kept wanting to lay them out but never got around to it. Well I decided that if I could just lay them out I would then be able to work on it again as time allowed.

This project was all about color and purging...........ok how do those two things go together? Well I need a quilt for the bed in the new RV. I really like this pattern because it is more about color than the fabrics used in it and I love green and purple. I also wanted to use up as much fabric as I could that I am not fond of. Now don't get me wrong there are many fabrics in there that I do indeed love. I began by pulling everything out that was purple and green that I was not fond of and started cutting my strips. Then when I ran out of those I added in other fabrics that I am more fond of. In the end I used a ton of fabric which includes lots of stuff I don't have to look at again and wonder what to do with.

Hopefully now that this is in a pleasing layout I will have my flimsey sewn together in a week or two. I could play with it forever and not get it perfect............and that is not what this quilt is about anyway.

My First Finish For 2014

My goal this year is to work on my UFO's and finish as many of them as I can. In addition to this I am also working on a series of Improv and modern quilts. The very first finish of the finish for this year is a new project that I just started a few weeks ago! I find that kind of ironic. The thing is that I have been working steadily on my UFO and Improv pile. I kind of got distracted and wanted to work on something new. I had found Bonnie Hunters Scrappy Trip Around The World and thought they looked really beautiful. I figured this might be a good way to use fabric I no longer love. See I had been sorting fabric and came across some I just did not want to look at any more. So I forged ahead and began a new project. I also did a bit of soul searching and realized that I have so many UFOs because I get tired of things and put them aside to begin a new project. After about the first 12 blocks I was getting tired of working with this fabric selection. I did not like it and wanted to do something different. Over on About.com my friend Judy pointed out that she starts a project and does not do anything else till she has it finished. OK I vowed to try to emulate Judy so I pressed on. The quilt was going to be much bigger but it occurred to me I really did not want it on the bed so I stopped at 20 squares, found some blue fabric that would work for a border and called it done. It is a nice topper size for the bed or a great couch throw.

Now for the back story. I did not really have yardage of anything to use on the back so I found some fabric in inherited from my aunt and pieced two large hunks of it with some leftover strips I had cut for the front. I actually love the back and think it is kinda fun.

This is also the first quilt I have quilted on my long arm in 4 years. I have my quilting business back up and running. It is great to be working on the Gammill again! I forgot how much I enjoyed making tops into quilts.